A domestic partnership is a union formed by two people (either men or women, of course) who have a long-lasting sentimental relationship and a note of cohabitation, and who, in view of this, have decided to formalize a community of life together and analogous to the matrimonial one.
This is a merely informative and non-binding estimate. It is calculated on the basis of two criteria: 1) our knowledge of the Notarial Tariff and 2) our daily experience in the preparation of this type of notarial document. (Royal Decree 1426/1989, dated November 17, 1989). and 2) our daily experience in the preparation of this type of notarial document. However, any variation (upward or downward) will be duly justified at the time of issuing the final invoice for the notarial service rendered.
A domestic partnership is a union formed by two people (either men or women, of course) who have a long-lasting sentimental relationship and a note of cohabitation, and who, in view of this, have decided to formalize a community of life together and analogous to the matrimonial one.
In accordance with the Catalan law, a domestic partnership may be constituted by couples who maintain a long-lasting sentimental relationship, with cohabitation, if they meet any of the following requirements:
In order to become a domestic partner, it will be necessary that its members meet the following requirements:
Undoubtedly, formalizing a stable sentimental relationship with cohabitation, through the institution of the domestic partnership, can be very beneficial, because without going into details on each of these aspects, the interested parties should know that, if necessary, their members will be able to benefit from the aspects that different regulations recognize, among others:
Of all the differences that can be found between the two institutions, the following are the most relevant:
At the labor level:
Currently, after several reforms of the Workers' Statute, the rights of spouses and domestic partners are practically equal in all cases, for example:
As the only difference, perhaps we could highlight, in the area of geographic mobility, the right of the spouse, working in the same company, to request a transfer to the same location as his/her spouse, in the event of the latter's transfer (Article 40 ET).
At the fiscal level:
Marriage is the only legal figure that allows to opt for the IRPF declaration jointly or separately. In any other case (including domestic partnership) the processing is carried out separately. In this sense, joint processing can benefit the spouses when the income of one of the members of the marriage is significantly lower than that of the other, or even has no income.
In addition, only in the case of marriage may gains and losses be offset jointly or separately.
As far as the Inheritance and Gift Tax is concerned, in the Catalan case this tax has some exemptions recognized for the widowed spouse that vary depending on the total amount of the inheritance. These exemptions are also recognized for the unmarried partner, although the widowed spouse has the right to claim them from the very moment of the constitution of the marriage; but in the case of the unmarried partner, it will be necessary to prove at least two years of cohabitation prior to the death for the exemption to be applicable.
In the widow's or widower's pension:
With regard to the widow's pension, there are differences, mainly in the requirements to be met by the beneficiaries:
In the case of marriage, the widowed spouse is entitled to a pension for life, provided that a number of contribution requirements are met. In addition, in the case of death due to common illness, which did not occur after the marital relationship, it is also required that the marriage was celebrated at least one year before the date of death (or, alternatively, the existence of common children).
In the case of domestic partners, in addition to these ordinary contribution requirements, the following will be required:
Likewise, in accordance with article 222 of the General Social Security Law, when the surviving spouse or common-law partner cannot access the right to a widow's or widower's pension because he or she cannot prove, respectively, that his or her marriage to the deceased lasted one year under the terms of article 219.2, or due to the non-existence of common children, or that their registration as domestic partners in any of the specific registers existing in the autonomous communities or town halls of the place of residence or their constitution by means of a public document has taken place at least two years before the date of death of the deceased, but the other requirements of the law are met, they will be entitled to a temporary benefit in an amount equal to that of the widow's or widower's pension that would have corresponded to them and for a duration of two years.
In order to constitute a domestic partnership, it is essential that the members of the couple live together, as it is clear from the regulation of this figure in the Catalan Civil Code. Therefore, as the main proof of the cohabitation is the census registration, in this notary's office it will not be possible to constitute a domestic partnership if it is not accredited, by means of the corresponding census certificates, that both people live together in the same house.
In addition, unlike marriage, in a domestic partnership many of the rights are acquired over time, not after the immediate constitution of the couple, so that certain years of cohabitation must also be proven (for example, in the case of the widow's pension).
It is therefore very important that the couple not only be registered at the same address at the time of incorporation, but also that they remain jointly registered throughout their relationship.
However, although registration at the same address is very important, if the members of the couple have not been living together for a long time, it is possible to consider different options to prove the stable relationship and, consequently, to constitute a domestic partnership.
As a general rule, the law does not require the presence of witnesses for the constitution of a domestic partnership, so that, in the vast majority of cases, it will not be necessary to provide them.
However, notaries, as public officials who are guarantors of legality, must ensure that the unmarried couples that are formed correspond to truly existing relationships, and not to couples formed in fraud of law with the aim of taking undue advantage of the legal benefits associated with this union (for example, for the purposes of foreigners' rights, or possible inheritance rights).
Thus, in practice, in this notarial office, in order to comply with the current legislation and the function of preventive legal security that the law entrusts to the Notaries, it will be necessary to provide, in the constitution of the stable couple, two witnesses of legal age who can confirm the reality and authenticity of the couple, in two main assumptions, that is, when there is a very marked difference of age between the two members of the stable couple that is intended to constitute (for example, a union between a person of 80 years and another one of 25 years) or, in its case, when the cohabitation that is accredited is of very little duration (for example, a joint census of antiquity of less than one month).
In these cases, as well as in others where it is necessary, the requirement or not of witnesses, in each specific case, will be at the discretion of the good work and professionalism of the notary's office, weighing the specific circumstances of each case, after examining all the evidence and documents provided by the parties.
In these exceptional cases, as indicated, in order to ensure that the intended stable partnership corresponds to a real sentimental relationship, and not a simulated one, the presence of two witnesses of legal age who can corroborate the situation and, therefore, formalize the domestic partnership, safeguarding legality and preventive legal certainty, will be required.
In most municipalities, this procedure can be carried out in person and, if, as indicated in the question, an appointment is not provided, it is also possible to carry it out telematically.
For this purpose, for example, the Barcelona City Council (which corresponds to the town where this notary's office is located) currently has two very fast ways to obtain the registration form on the same day:
To sign the deed of domestic partnership before a notary it is not necessary to have a NIE. It is enough to have an original and valid passport on the day of the signature.
At the European Union level, thanks to Regulation (EU) 2016/1104 of June 24, 2016, the law applicable to the domestic partnership is determined by the choice of the couple. Thus, the members of the couple, by constituting the stable union in Catalonia when they grant the public deed and request the consequent registration of such couple in the Catalan Register of Stable Couples, implicitly accept that the Catalan law applies to their union.
In fact, at present, the immigration regulations provide for the possibility that, if there is a domestic partnership between a foreigner and a citizen of the European Union, it is possible to obtain a residence card for a family member of a citizen of the European Union.
To this effect, this is established by Royal Decree 987/2015, of October 30 and Royal Decree 240/2007, of February 16, in which it is determined that a foreign person, who is the common-law partner of a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, shall be entitled to apply for the residence card of a family member of a citizen of the European Union, provided that a lasting bond is accredited, which is understood to exist in any case if a time of cohabitation of at least one continuous year is accredited, unless they have offspring in common, in which case the accreditation of stable cohabitation duly proven will be sufficient.
Indeed, in Catalonia there is a public registry, which is called the Registry of Stable Couples of Catalonia, in which the unmarried couples who wish to do so are registered. In this regard, it is necessary to indicate that this registration of the unmarried couple is a voluntary act and not constitutive, but certainly highly recommended, to reinforce the legal security of the union and necessary to acquire some rights, such as the widow's pension in your case.
To this effect, in the event that the domestic partnership is formalized in a public deed, the regulation of the Catalan Registry of Stable Partners establishes that the Notary who authorizes the deed, at the request of both partners, will send a copy of the deed by telematic means in order to achieve its registration.
You can register your domestic partnership in:
Once the deed is signed, the Notary will send it telematically to the Registry for its registration. When this procedure is completed, the Registry will contact the two cohabitants. Currently, this is done by e-mail, so that the registration documentation is sent to the e-mail addresses provided in the deed of domestic partnership. The Registry must notify the registration within a maximum period of two months from the date of signature.
However, it is necessary to point out that, at present, in practice, the process of registration in the Catalan public registry is completed within 2 or 3 working days.
As we have explained, the notification should be sent by email to both members of the couple. The notary's office does not intervene in this process and does not receive any notification that would be useful to the couple. Therefore, once the period of two months has elapsed, without having received any notification, the appropriate course of action is:
No. As long as it is not deregistered by the interested party, it remains in force. However, it should be noted that the certificate of registration that you will receive from the Registry of Stable Couples expires three months after registration, so if it is necessary to prove the existence of the union beyond that period, it will be necessary to request a renewal, in which case this procedure can be done telematically (HERE).
No. Currently, each Autonomous Community is competent to regulate the unmarried couple, which implies deciding whether or not to create a Registry for this purpose, with what requirements the Registry is accessed and if, therefore, the legal figure of the unmarried couple is regulated and how (what rights and obligations are granted to it).
There is no communication between registries, nor is there a state registry of unmarried couples. This means that a couple registered in Catalonia cannot prove their registration outside Catalonia.
Therefore, in many occasions, when a couple moves from one Autonomous Community to another, they register in the community in which they reside. This, however, poses a problem, since each time we register in a Registry of Stable Couples we are requesting the application of the rights and obligations that this registry recognizes to our partner, and losing those of the previous registration.
Thus, a couple with a certain mobility may face the problem of having their partnership regulated by not one, but several different regulations, depending on the place where they are registered. This generates a great lack of legal certainty for those who, many times, are not aware of the change of regulation.
This is justified because it is understood that the domestic partnership is temporary and prior to marriage. The problem comes when socially the concepts are confused and one thing is assimilated to the other.
If the domestic partnership is subsequently registered in another registry of another administration, the applicable legislation will be that of the last place in which the domestic partnership was registered. In this sense, it is prudent to emphasize the need to deregister the domestic partnership in the Registry of Catalonia, when, if applicable, it is registered in another Registry of another administration.
The Catalan legislation establishes that the economic relations between the members of the common-law couple will be governed exclusively by the agreements reached by the cohabitants, while the cohabitation lasts. Likewise, it must be taken into account that the Catalan legislation establishes a specific rule on the disposition of the common dwelling, by virtue of which, it cannot be sold without the consent of both members of the common-law couple.
In the absence of a general legal regulation of domestic partnerships at the state level, most of the autonomous communities, within the framework of their competences, have passed laws regulating stable partnerships (article 149.1.8 of the Spanish Constitution).see article 149.1.8 of the Spanish Constitution). Therefore, in this case we will focus on the legislation of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia:
For the regulations applicable to the Registry of Stable Couples of Catalonia see:
Outside our business hours, you can also contact us. The corresponding department will get back to you as soon as possible:
The original and valid copy of the original must be provided
Not older than three months
In case of having children in common: It will be necessary to present before a Notary the original Family Book or, in its case, the corresponding birth certificate. (In case, it is a foreign document, it will have to be presented duly translated and apostilled).
In case that one of the two members is divorced: It will be necessary to present before a Notary the Certificate of the Civil Registry or the corresponding Judicial Order of divorce that accredits this circumstance. (In case it is a foreign document, it will have to be presented duly translated and apostilled).
